Safety condition in Hospitals Affiliated to Kerman University of Medical Sciences, 2010

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Community Medicine, Research Center for Social Determinant of Health, Institute of Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

2 PhD Student, Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran , Iran

3 Professor of Community Medicine, Neuroscience Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

Abstract

Background: To increase safety of patients and staffs in hospitals, safety standards and regulations must be considered. This study was conducted to evaluate safety conditions in hospitals affiliated to Kerman University of Medical Sciences. Methods:This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in various wards and units of four hospitals affiliated to Kerman University of Medical Sciences. Data were collected using a standard questionnaire of Iran Ministry of Health and was filled through interviews and observations of different wards. Based on the achieved scores, hospitals’ safety conditions were categorized into three groups including favorable, relatively favorable, and unfavorable. Results: Mean score of safety conditions in the studied hospitals was 66.8±15.1 None of the hospitals had a favorable safety condition. Overall, the safety condition was favorable in 27.8% of all wards and units, 12.5% of diagnostic wards, 13.3% of inpatient wards, 30.4% of logistic units and 72.7% of special wards. The best safety condition was in intensive care units. None of the obstetric and genecology wards, infant wards, oncology wards, emergency wards and drug storage and fire control units had a favorable safety condition. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, safety condition is not favorable in most wards and units of the hospitals. As a result, this poor safety condition can lead to a lot of risks for patients and hospital staffs. Therefore, to reduce these risks and promote safety condition, it is necessary to do some necessary interventions.

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